The present invention relates to replacements for fat, both per se as well as in the preparation of food products, in prophylactic and therapeutic weight loss treatments, and high protein therapies, and to edible food products of the type wherein fats, which are normally present in concentrations sufficient to make an organoleptic contribution, are replaced by proteinaceous materials which possess the smooth organoleptic character of oil in water emulsions.
Fat-rich foods enjoy considerable popularity and make up a significant proportion of the diet of many people. The undesirable impact from a nutritional viewpoint of such consumption is widely recognized, and numerous attempts have been made to address the problem.
Perhaps the most direct approach has been to simply reduce the amount of fat present in any given food. U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,873 exemplifies products in which multiple phase emulsions (e.g., oil/water/oil or water/oil/water) are employed to permit a reduction in the amount of fat present in certain fat-containing foods, without, it is claimed, unduly compromising the foods organoleptic character. In these products, the relationship of water and oil is modified in order to maximize the kinesthetic contribution of the oil and so permit a proportionate reduction of the amount of oil required in the food in order to manifest any given level of the organoleptic contribution associated with fats. While reducing the quantity of fat is highly desirable in as far as it goes, this approach is subject to very real limits on how far it can be carried. Even though the organoleptic contribution of the fat present in the food is optimized, any resulting food product nevertheless retains a substantial proportion of the fat necessarily commensurate with the desired mouth feel normally associated with the fats in such products. Therefore, although simple fat reduction has its advantages, this approach cannot be taken very far and does not hold the same potential benefits which are afforded by way of fat reduction through fat replacement.
The art is replete with proposals for the provision of fat-replacers in food products which are then described as "calorie reduced". As one example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,186 relates generally to low calorie products, comprising liquid polyol polyesters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,782 provides baked products comprising polyol fatty acids polyesters and microcrystalline cellulose as flour or starch replacements.
Sucrose polyesters are extolled as having the physical properties and appearance of normal fat, but at the same time are resistant to enzymatic hydrolysis in the gut, which renders them undigestible. According to an article which appeared in the Economist, Apr. 4, 1987, pages 87-88, however, sucrose polyesters have only been approved for use as protective coatings on fruit. Moreover, sucrose polyesters have an undesirable laxative effect which necessitates the collateral use of hydrogenated palm oil or the like when sucrose polyesters are used in large quantities. Worse still is the fact that sucrose polyesters interfere substantially with the body's absorption of fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A and E.
A more conventional approach to calorie reduced foods is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,163 which discloses smooth textured, high bulk food additive compositions made up of fibrous cellulose coated with soluble gums and polyhydric alcohols and provided as particles ranging in size between 20 and 40 microns. Rather than replace fats in the absolute sense, the fibrous cellulose material increases the relative proportion of the indigestible material in the food product. The use of other materials is intended to compensate in some degree for the poor mouth feel typically associated with high fibre foods.
One alternative to the problems associated with the often poor palatability of high fibre supplementation, involves the use of various aqueous gels as fat replacers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,964 relates to a fat replacer wherein gelled water beads based on aqueous dispersions of hydrated hydrocolloids are in turn dispersed in an oil-in-water emulsion. Notwithstanding whatever nutritional benefit that may be associated with the proportionately small amounts of hydrocolloid that is present in these gels, these compositions make no substantial direct nutritive contribution to a consumer's diet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,166, relates to a starch/water gels, that are taught as being useful as oil or fat replacers. The only nutritional benefit, apart from replacing oil or fat, that is afforded through this approach is the calorie value of the 10-50% of starch that these gels contain. In diets already rich in carbohydrates, this contribution, by itself, is of dubious value.
As stated, it is well known that, from a nutritional point of view, high fat levels in foods are not desirable, regardless of however optimized their organoleptic contribution may be. The dilution of fat through the use of fibre additives has some advantages, but gives no direct nutritional benefits to the consumer, although the consumption of a high fibre diet has been favorably associated with avoiding certain forms of intestinal disease. Water-gel-based fat replacers do not evidence any such additional benefits. The replacement of fats with sucrose polyesters also affords no direct nutritional benefit to the consumer, even though it apparently does have the advantage of sequestering cholesterol in the gut before the cholesterol can be absorbed into the body.
It would be most advantageous if a fat replacer additionally, could make a direct and desirable contribution to the consumer's nutritional requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,294, makes some in-roads in this respect, by utilizing between 0.5 to 30% protein in a fat replacer comprising a whipped, hydrated protein/gum complex which is dispersed in a partially gelatinized, acidified starch-in-water phase. However, Column 2, lines 62 to 68 teaches that the desired oil-replacement properties are dependent on the organoleptic contribution of the swollen starch granules.
Under normal conditions, the healthy adult human's nitrogen equilibrium can be maintained with daily protein intake of 0.9 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. A fat replacer which is also a nutritional protein source could readily meet these requirements and provide both prophylactic and therapeutic benefits in respect of generalized protein deficiency conditions as well as of potential benefit in the treatment of obesity, arteriosclerosis and possibly a number of eating disorders as well.
There exists a need in the art for natural, nutritive materials which have a substantially smooth, emulsion-like, organoleptic character and for food products containing the same as at least a partial replacement for fats.